IS is considered an extremist, jihadist group following an extreme form of the Islamic religion.

Definitions
Islam: “the religious faith of Muslims including belief in Allah as the sole deity and in Muhammad as his prophet” – Merriam-Webster

Jihadist: one who follows an extreme version of Islam. “The jihadist ideology holds that they are the only true believers. The rest of world is made up of hostile unbelievers whose sole purpose is the destruction of Islam. These people are thus worthy of attack.” – MIT

IS only makes up a small percentage of Muslims. Most other Muslims follow different forms of Islam.

Known by these names:
ISIS = Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
ISIL = Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
IS = Islamic State — most recently declared name from the group

IS strictly follows Islamic rules and prophecy via the Prophet Muhammad and does not deviate, calling it the “Prophetic Methodology.” They only follow the law of God, not man-made laws – a big difference from other forms of Islam that have their own interpretations or may be more “modernized” to today’s world.

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IS has control of land in parts of Iraq and Syria, including major city Mosul in northern Iraq.

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PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
Pledging allegiance to the caliphate (Islamic state), leading to salvation

EMIGRATE
It is best to emigrate to the caliphate. Muslims are urged to “gather around your caliph, so that you may return as you once were for ages, kings of the earth and knights of war.”

TAKFIRI
Saying another Muslim is an infidel, not following Islam correctly. Then, the infidel is subject to Islamic judgment and punishment. This could result in taking one’s wealth away, being whipped or death. However, in the media, we’ve seen IS mainly punish other Muslims and also non-Muslims with death.

OFFENSIVE JIHAD
The forcible expansion into countries that are ruled by non-Muslims, now that they have a caliphate

AN APOCALYPSE
IS has taken control of Dabiq, a city in Syria because they believe there will be a big battle against an enemy in Dabiq. Then, they believe the caliphate will expand, engage in another deadly battle where it loses many fighters. Then, with only 5,000 people/fighters left, Jesus will come to Earth and help them win.

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Before IS, there were a couple major, violent jihadist groups:

– One in Arab areas, led by Sayyid Qutb, a radical Egyptian Islamist in the 1980s-90s.

– Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the surrounding area, led by Osama bin Laden. al-Qaeda took credit for the September 11th, 2001 attack on the US.

IS is not al-Qaeda. Some say it does not follow al-Qaeda’s method of suicide bombers or attacks in global cities but rather seems to keep close to its Syria/Iraq location.

IS is considered more violent and brutal than these other groups.

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Generally, the world is alarmed by IS. Each country has a different view on how to deal with this, even within the country – both its people and its leaders – as the issue continues to unfold. Major ones:

INVOLVES MUSLIMS ONLY:
Some believe it is a Muslim ordeal that only Muslims need to deal with, not outside countries. The king of Jordan, Abdullah II, says “This is a fight inside of Islam where everybody comes together against these outlaws.” He is in favor of support from the international community “but is wary of Western troops.”

INVOLVES EVERYONE:
Others believe it does involve other, non-Muslim countries, as they see the brutality and even their own citizens being harmed or killed, such as the beheadings of American and British citizens – aid workers and journalists – in 2014.

HESITATION IF IT INVOLVES EVERYONE:
Some countries are hesitant to take a large role against IS, believing it will bring more brutality to its citizens. Their citizens may have been either brutalized or held hostage. IS has publicized executions, warning of getting involved and specifically warning the US.

It is also said Turkey wants minimal involvement. Read some thoughts on Turkey’s low profile here.

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WITHIN THE US… there are differences:

President Obama has the US offering support and troops, but believes the US should not start a long-term, full-scale ground operation in Middle East again like in the past with Iraq or Afghanistan.

Graeme Wood from The Atlantic, says an American invasion is what IS wants: “The provocative videos, in which a black-hooded executioner addresses President Obama by name, are clearly made to draw America into the fight. An invasion would be a huge propaganda victory for jihadists worldwide”

Bill O’Reilly says “We have to wipe out ISIS. Every American should know this. We have to kill them all. They’re not gonna give up. They’re not gonna stop murdering innocent people. We have to get them. That’s it. And there’s nobody else on the planet [that’s] gonna do it”

An opinion piece from The Washington Post says “If we are distracted from our fight with ISIS, we will then be the unwilling accomplices to the birth of a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East.” – Aki Peritz, a former CIA counterterrorism analyst & Robin Simcox, a national security research fellow in London.

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Given these views, what are countries actually doing?
Many countries joined a coalition force, aka. one combined force from multiple countries, to help the Middle East. The coalition force currently includes dozens of countries such as US, Britain, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. However, some argue many of the coalition countries don’t contribute much. List of coalition countries here.

Still, what countries agree to varies:

– Some give troops to fight the cause – but sometimes restricting troops to only Iraq and not Syria. Why? It’s possibly because they want to stay out of the civil war in Syria or perhaps they don’t agree with the government/leader there – some are not in favor of President Bashar al-Assad.

– Some only give weapons or non-troop support to help Middle Eastern countries fight this.

– Some set laws within their own countries – such as Australia, where they have made it illegal to pledge allegiance to or travel to the Islamic State.

The US is:

– Providing weapons and carrying out airstrikes, along with the coalition

– Trying to set some laws in place for future action but has not come to an agreement. In early 2015 Obama tried to pass AUMF (Authorization for Military Force) against ISIS. It stalled out in Congress because some believed it needed more clear limitations on ground troops while others believed it should be more open-ended to allow whatever military action needed. Obama believes the US should not get into another full-on ground war in the Middle East like Iraq or Afghanistan.

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There’s a lot of blame going around for how IS came to be and what allowed it to grow:

– Some say it was the US occupation of Iraq during its Iraq War, under President Bush: watch from Vice here

– Some say it was the US troops being pulled out of Iraq in 2011, under President Obama, leaving Iraq vulnerable.

– Some say it was the US, yes, but also its allies and enemies: read from Vox here

A long but interesting read from The Guardian – How IS’s top leaders organized and trained in an American-led Iraqi prison during the US occupation of Iraq.

An equally interesting read from The New Yorker – Did George W. Bush Create ISIS?. This explores both sides – is it Bush’s fault or Obama’s fault?

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“There are calls today for Twitter and other social media services to do more to shut down websites used to disseminate Isis propaganda and aid recruitment.” – The Guardian. This is after 3 London schoolgirls disappeared – it is believed they went to Syria to join IS, since one of the girls was signed up on many IS-related social media sites.

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The group changed its name a few times, going from ISIS to ISIL to now Islamic State. Some say President Obama uses ISIL so he doesn’t have to refer directly to Syria with ISIS, since he’s not a big fan of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Obama has even said he’d like to see al-Assad taken out of power. For more detailed background on the names, read this.

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